An upcoming exhibit of artifacts aims to juxtapose stories about the pursuit of freedom in the American Revolution with those of women, American Indians and enslaved Africans as the nation prepares for its 250th birthday in 2026.
The semiquincentennial marks the July 4, 1776, signing of the Declaration of Independence.
The Virginia Museum of History and Culture recently shared plans to exhibit 50 items from the period starting on the March 22 anniversary of Patrick Henry’s “Give me liberty or give me death” speech in 1775.
The exhibit at the Richmond museum will run through Jan. 4, 2026, before moving to the American Revolution Museum at Yorktown from July 4, 2026, to Jan. 30, 2027.
Artifacts include Henry’s spectacles — which he frequently lifted for verbal flourishes — and a reproduction of a Cherokee wampum belt representing Indigenous peoples whom colonists displaced.
“I think it’s very important to understand that while Patrick Henry and others were talking about the king enslaving them and claiming their property, they were enslaving others and claiming property that had been lived on for generations,” said Andrew Talkov, senior director of curatorial affairs at the museum, a nonprofit founded in 1831.
In an interview with The Washington Times, Mr. Talkov noted that 500,000 people lived in Virginia in 1775 and 40% of them were enslaved. He said “White male property owners” enjoyed exclusive rights over lands the colonists had confiscated from Indian tribes.
The exhibit includes a copy of Thomas Jefferson’s revolutionary writings that Williamsburg publisher Clementina Rind printed in the Virginia Gazette, highlighting the contributions of women.
It arrives as “The 1619 Project” has sparked debate over whether Americans should mark that year — when the first enslaved Africans arrived in Virginia — instead of 1776 as the nation’s starting point. Thousands of public schools have adopted the Pulitzer Prize-winning series in social studies classes since New York Times journalists launched it in August 2019. Hulu adapted it for a streaming series last year.
The Richmond exhibit includes an original copy of Lord Dunmore’s November 1775 proclamation that offered freedom to enslaved people in Virginia who fought for the crown — “The 1619 Project” uses this evidence in its argument that America began as a racist nation.
Omekongo Dibinga, a professor of intercultural communications affiliated with the Antiracist Research and Policy Center at American University, said 1619 is “the better starting point for America” than 1776.
“America is great for creating a nostalgia that never existed,” said Mr. Dibinga, who is not involved with the exhibit. “We need to build a country where everyone is celebrated and not just tolerated.”
The museum also will display an ivory paper cutter Henry raised in the air while saying “give me liberty” and plunged toward his chest at the words “or give me death” in his fateful oration. That line ended his speech at St. John’s Church in Richmond, calling on the Second Virginia Convention to levy troops against the British king.
“It’s the contradiction baked into our nation that ’The 1619 Project’ suggests is, in one way, a core part of American history,” said Mr. Talkov, the curator. “We see the revolution as a beginning, not an end. The revolution continues.”
Several historians reached for comment said they expect Indigenous people, Black Americans and women to feature prominently in semiquincentennial exhibits that museums across the country will organize over the coming year. Those perspectives were largely absent from the nation’s bicentennial celebrations 50 years ago.
“Today the American people are more willing to embrace a complex narrative that praises our founding principles while recognizing that those principles were not extended to everyone in 1776 or 1787,” said Marcus Witcher, an economic historian at West Virginia University. “It’s important to remember, however, that our Enlightenment liberal founding is not to blame for the existence of slavery in the United States.”
Other scholars warned that the upcoming Richmond exhibit could add to the “history wars” that “The 1619 Project” has sparked between liberals and conservatives.
“I fully expect many organizations will use the ’America 250’ celebrations to denigrate American principles,” said Bradley Watson, a government professor at Hillsdale College’s Washington, D.C., campus. “That’s exactly the wrong approach.”
Mr. Watson called America’s founding from the 1760s through the 1780s “a high water mark of anti-slavery sentiment in the world” and said the Founding Fathers knew slavery was wrong “even if they didn’t know how to eliminate it immediately.”
• Sean Salai can be reached at ssalai@washingtontimes.com.
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